A Santa Rosa man is scheduled to be sentenced in September after pleading no contest Friday to a lesser charge in the fatal shooting of a 30-year-old woman in 2025.

Domingo Miguel-Lopez was initially charged with murder in the death of Marisol Chavez Figueroa, who was fatally shot Jan. 27, 2025, near Whitewood Drive and Hearn Avenue. Final preparations for a jury trial were ongoing when he pleaded no contest Friday to voluntary manslaughter, according to Sonoma County Superior Court records.

He also admitted to a special allegation that the killing involved a handgun and faces 21 years in prison as per a plea agreement. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 17 before Judge Robert LaForge.

Testimony from a preliminary hearing in May 2025 showed Chavez was sitting in a Toyota Tacoma parked outside Miguel-Lopez’s home when they got into an argument. Investigators and witnesses said Chavez fell to the pavement after being shot and that’s where the first arriving officers found her.

Family members later told The Press Democrat Chavez had been in a relationship with Miguel-Lopez. They described her as a Santa Rosa native, mother to two girls and one of four siblings.

Miguel-Lopez, testimony showed, ran into the home and told his roommates what occurred. One of them agreed to drive him away to calm children who were present.

That roommate, Benjamin Torres-Rodriguez, was charged with a felony count of being an accessory and proceedings are ongoing in his case.

He dropped Miguel-Lopez off at a Santa Rosa motel before returning home, only to find police surrounding the area.

Police testified during the preliminary hearing that officers tracked Miguel-Lopez to a motel near Santa Rosa Avenue and Shady Lane. They located the Toyota Tacoma nearby on East Robles Avenue, with a damaged taillight, a bloodied passenger seat and suspected narcotics inside.

A Santa Rosa police SWAT team, along with hostage negotiators and tactical officers, later searched the motel. Miguel-Lopez surrendered, and authorities recovered a firearm inside.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com.